Dezeen » John Maedahttp://www.dezeen.com
architecture and design magazineTue, 31 Mar 2015 20:00:13 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Designers are adding billions of dollars to the tech industry, says John Maedahttp://www.dezeen.com/2015/03/18/john-maeda-silicon-valley-design-businesses-worth-billions-dollars-tech-industry-design-in-tech-report/
http://www.dezeen.com/2015/03/18/john-maeda-silicon-valley-design-businesses-worth-billions-dollars-tech-industry-design-in-tech-report/#commentsWed, 18 Mar 2015 16:13:05 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=664044Design has become a "game changer" in Silicon Valley, according to a report by former Rhode Island School of Design president John Maeda, who says that designers are becoming essential to the success of tech companies. Maeda's 2015 DesignInTech report said a growing trend for large US tech companies buying smaller creative businesses was proof that design […]

Design has become a "game changer" in Silicon Valley, according to a report by former Rhode Island School of Design president John Maeda, who says that designers are becoming essential to the success of tech companies.

Maeda's 2015 DesignInTech report said a growing trend for large US tech companies buying smaller creative businesses was proof that design had become an integral part of the technology industry.

"Businesses started by designers have created billions of dollars of value, are raising billions of dollars in capital, and VC firms increasingly see the importance of design," said Maeda's report, published earlier this week.

The report identified 27 startups founded by designers that had been bought by businesses such as Google, Facebook, Adobe, LinkedIn, Dropbox and Yahoo since 2010. These included photo sharing app Instagram, blogging platform Tumblr and creative portfolio website Behance.

The Japanese-American graphic designer's research also found that 20 per cent of the top cumulative-funded venture-capital investments that had raised additional money since 2013 had designer co-founders. Those companies included design e-commerce company Fab.com, image sharing platform Pinterest, news organisation Vice Media, skills learning service Lynda.com and home rentals website Airbnb.

"[Silicon Valley] didn't think a designer could build and run a company. They were straight up about it. We weren't MBAs, we weren't two PHD students from Stanford. Being designers they thought we were people that worked for people that ran companies."

Chesky and Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, where Maeda was president for six years before he left to join KPCB. Airbnb was valued at $13 billion (£8.8 billion) in October 2014.

Maeda said that the consumer shift towards mobile technology had made design much more valuable to tech companies, .

"The smartphone revolution brought design's value into the foreground," said Maeda's report, published to coincide with his talk at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, on Sunday.

"We want to do in our palm, while walking, what we used to do on a big screen while sitting down at a desk. The interaction design challenges presented by that shift are huge," it said.

"The mobile paradigm should be thought of as 'the always with you and in your face' paradigm. For that reason, a bad design will not just hurt once, but the hundreds of times you might use the bad design in a single day. That's a lot of unnecessary 'ouches'."

"Moore's Law no longer cuts it as the key path to a happier customer," added the report, referring to the exponential growth pattern in computing power identified by Intel co-founder Gordon E Moore in 1965.

Connected home company Nest, bought by Google last year, is one example of how design should be integrated into products from conception, rather than added on at the end as "cosmetic surgery", said Maeda.

"To achieve great design, you need great business thinking/doing — to effectively invest in design — and you need great engineering — to achieve unflagging performance," added Maeda.

Maeda joined Californian venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) as its first design partner in January 2014. He left RISD to lead KPCB's Design Council, a group of around 12 Silicon Valley designers that brings together and mentors upcoming design talent in the technology industry. He also works with the firm's Design Fellows mentorship programme, launched in 2012 to back internships for college students at startup firms.

"Joining KPCB was an irresistible opportunity to work alongside talented investment professionals and entrepreneurs to elevate design to the forefront of leadership and innovation," he said when the appointment was announced.

Since he started at KPCB, six other venture capital companies with headquarters on Silicon Valley's Sand Hill Road have also hired designers. All of these businesses specialise in providing financial support for startup companies they believe have potential for rapid growth.

Maeda anticipated that this trend in venture capital recruitment was likely to continue. He also predicted that interest in designer-led businesses would carry on growing, with an increase in merger and acquisition activity and more access to financial capital.

Maeda initially studied software engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) before completing a PhD in design at Tsukuba University's Institute of Art and Design in Japan.

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2015/03/18/john-maeda-silicon-valley-design-businesses-worth-billions-dollars-tech-industry-design-in-tech-report/feed/1John Maeda leaves Rhode Island School of Design for venture capital firm and eBayhttp://www.dezeen.com/2013/12/09/john-maeda-leaving-risd/
http://www.dezeen.com/2013/12/09/john-maeda-leaving-risd/#commentsMon, 09 Dec 2013 15:54:28 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=396290News: president of the Rhode Island School of Design John Maeda has announced he will leave the school to join a Silicon Valley venture capital firm and chair eBay's new Design Advisory Board. The Japanese-American graphic designer, computer scientist, academic and author will leave RISD at the end of this semester and join Kleiner Perkins […]

News: president of the Rhode Island School of Design John Maeda has announced he will leave the school to join a Silicon Valley venture capital firm and chair eBay's new Design Advisory Board.

The Japanese-American graphic designer, computer scientist, academic and author will leave RISD at the end of this semester and join Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in Menlo Park, California, as the firm's first design partner from January.

"I firmly believe that art and design will transform our economy in the 21st century the way that science and technology did in the last century," said Maeda. "Joining KPCB was an irresistible opportunity to work alongside talented investment professionals and entrepreneurs to elevate design to the forefront of leadership and innovation."

KPCB says Maeda will work with their entrepreneurs and portfolio companies to "build design DNA into their company cultures". He'll lead the company's Design Council, a group of around 12 Silicone Valley designers that brings together and mentors upcoming design talent in the technology industry. He’ll also work with the firm's Design Fellows mentorship programme, launched a year ago to back internships for college students at startup firms.

Rhode Island School of Design's Board of Trustees will now begin to search for a new leader, with the president's duties to be taken over by provost Rosanne Somerson and chief operating officer Jean Eddy in the meantime.

"President Maeda has been a visionary, passionate and tireless leader for RISD over the past six years and for that I extend a heartfelt thank you on behalf of our community," said board chair Michael Spalter. "He has advanced not only our institution but also the role of art and design in the twenty-first century global economy."

During the past six years at RISD, Maeda led the STEM to STEAM movement to transform the traditional STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) to STEAM by adding art as a core subject, championing its inclusion in research policy, business and core education from kindergarten to graduation. Under his leadership the number of students applying to study at RISD has increased along with the number of financial aid packages offered, plus tuition fee increases have been at their lowest in decades.

Maeda was hired by the school to succeed art historian Roger Mandle in 2008. Before that Maeda was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for 12 years, where he also served as the associate director of research at the MIT Media Lab - the institute's research department focussing on the convergence of technology, multimedia and design.

He is also a director on the boards of consumer electronics company Sonos and crowdsourcing innovation platform Quirky, and sits on the board of international advertising firm Wieden+Kennedy.

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2013/12/09/john-maeda-leaving-risd/feed/5Design Miami Chat Shows: John Maedahttp://www.dezeen.com/2009/01/05/design-miami-chat-shows-john-maeda/
http://www.dezeen.com/2009/01/05/design-miami-chat-shows-john-maeda/#commentsMon, 05 Jan 2009 16:36:12 +0000http://www.dezeen.com/2009/01/05/design-miami-chat-shows-john-maeda/The first of our video interviews conducted at Design Miami last month features John Maeda, the multi-skilled designer who is now president of Rhode Island School of Design. Filmed by Dezeen in front of a live audience, Maeda talks about the five images he selected in response to the Design Miami Chat Shows brief: My […]

John is a world-renowned graphic designer, educator, artist, and computer scientist, who now adds the title Rhode Island School of Design President to his diverse credentials. His early work redefined the use of electronic media as a tool for expression by combining skilled computer programming with sensitivity to traditional artistic concerns.

This work helped to develop the interactive motion graphics that are prevalent throughout the internet today. At MIT since 1996, John was the Associate Director of Research at the MIT Media Laboratory, where he was responsible for managing research relationships with 70+ industrial organizations and has developed advanced projects for an array of major corporations including Cartier, Google, Philips, Reebok, and Samsung among others.

He is the recipient of the highest honors for design in the USA (1999 Chrysler Design Award; 2001, National Design Award), Japan (2002, Mainichi Design Prize), and Germany (2005, Raymond Loewy Foundation Prize), and his early work in digital media design is in the permanent collection of MoMA (New York). John is the author of four books.

His most recent book, The Laws of Simplicity has been published in 14 languages and has become the reference work for discussions on the highly elusive theme of ‘simplicity’ in the complex digital world.

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2009/01/05/design-miami-chat-shows-john-maeda/feed/4Reebok Flash store by Formavisionhttp://www.dezeen.com/2008/11/19/reebok-flash-store-by-formavision/
http://www.dezeen.com/2008/11/19/reebok-flash-store-by-formavision/#commentsWed, 19 Nov 2008 18:54:14 +0000http://www.dezeen.com/2008/11/19/reebok-flash-store-by-formavision/American designers Formvision have created a pop-up store for sportswear brand Reebok in New York, USA. Located in a 3,000 square-foot gallery space, the shop sells limited edition shoes and clothing designed in collaboration with visual artists Rolland Berry, John Maeda and the estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat, alongside Reebok shoes designed in the 1980's. "The […]

American designers Formvision have created a pop-up store for sportswear brand Reebok in New York, USA.

Located in a 3,000 square-foot gallery space, the shop sells limited edition shoes and clothing designed in collaboration with visual artists Rolland Berry, John Maeda and the estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat, alongside Reebok shoes designed in the 1980's.

"The design of the space plays with sense of depth and perspective, tricking the eye by extending three dimensional shapes into distorted graphic patterns," say Formavision.

On Saturday November 15th 2008, British sportswear company Reebok unveiled “Reebok Flash”, the brand's first ever pop-up store. Located in a 3,000 square-foot gallery space on the Bowery, “Flash” will be open daily until December 15th, and will feature limited-edition sneakers and exclusive apparel collections designed in collaboration with renowned visual artists Rolland Berry, John Maeda and the estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat.

“Reebok Flash” will also relaunch several of the company's most popular sneaker lines from the 1980s, including the groundbreaking Pump and the iconic freestyle series, which became synonymous with stylistic and technological breakthroughs in the spheres of aerobics and cross training. Experiential design and creative services agency Formavision, which conceived and developed the concept store, took inspiration from Vorticsim, an English arts movement from the early 20th century noted for its dynamic interpretation of Cubist and Futurist principles.

Combining Vorticism's vibrant aesthetic with an assortment of cultural cues ranging from Purple Rain to Miami Vice, Flash Dance to Thriller, Formavision sought to capture the pop spirit of the 80s in order to create the ideal environment to reintroduce these classic styles from Reebok."The design of the space plays with sense of depth and perspective, tricking the eye by extending three dimensional shapes into distorted graphic patterns, a camouflaging technique reminiscent of the Royal Navy’s dazzle ship graphics from the First World War," notes Formavision founder and creative director Sebastien Agneessens.

"Our intent is to provoke and perhaps confound visitors by making them feel as if they are stepping into a poster rather than a store.” Formavision is a New York-based experiential design studio that specializes in creating branded environments and cultural content to support and activate non-traditional marketing strategies. Since its inception in 2003, Formavision has been connecting its clients with key tastemakers and members of the creative community by conceiving and deploying projects that include the Diesel Denim Gallery, Lexus Light & Speed, the World of Coca-Cola, and the Starbucks Salon.